Birds I'm Watching: Sharp-tailed Sandpiper at Shollenberger Park, Petaluma, (October 12, 2011)

A Sharp-tailed Sandpiper has been out at Shollenberger Park for the last few days--a rare bird for Sonoma County. I finally got out there when the tides were right to find it. I not only saw the bird today but also got some good photographs of it. Sharp-tailed Sandpiper (Calidris acuminata) is an Old-World species closely related to our Pectoral Sandpiper (Calidris melanatos). It breeds in the Russian Far East and winters in Australasia. It's considered a fairly common fall migrant in Western Alaska and a rare fall migrant all along the Pacific Coast. It's only once in a long while that one shows up in northern California. These coastal strays are almost always juvenile birds, like the one pictured above. This bird was first reported on October 4. It's stayed more than a week now. Another new bird for my life list, and Sharp-tailed Sandpiper brings my Sonoma County list to 210 species.

 For more information about bird watching in Sonoma County, see my Website Sonoma County Bird Watching Spots.